


Lucrezia, The Goose Girl

by 50251sid



Category: The Borgias, The Borgias (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Animal Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-31
Updated: 2014-03-31
Packaged: 2018-01-17 16:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1393936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50251sid/pseuds/50251sid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A retelling of the fairy tale "The Goose Girl"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lucrezia, The Goose Girl

**Author's Note:**

> Is it just me, or is this one of the creepiest stories ever?

Once upon a time, a widowed queen named Vannozza had a beautiful golden-haired daughter named Lucrezia, who had been betrothed as an infant to a prince in a distant realm. When the time came for Lucrezia to journey the great distance from her home to that of her bridegroom for their wedding, her mother bestowed upon her a great deal of costly and beautiful cups, plates and goblets, jewels, dresses and linens – in short, anything and everything which would be suitable for the royal dowry of a much-beloved daughter and princess. Lucrezia would ride in the company of a maidservant named Charlotte, and each young woman had her own horse for the journey. Lucrezia’s horse, a stallion named Falada, was magical and could speak. When the time came for the princess to depart, her mother took her aside and, pricking her own finger with a small knife, allowed three drops of blood to fall onto a white silk handkerchief which she tucked into her daughter’s bosom.

“Guard this cloth carefully, my dear child, for it will be of service to you along the way.”

Lucrezia bid her mother a tearful farewell, mounted her horse and set off. After having ridden for a long time, the princess felt very thirsty and asked her maid to dismount and bring her some water from the stream which ran along the road. Out of sight of the queen, the maidservant was insolent.

“If you are thirsty, get off your horse and get your own drink. I’ll not wait on you.”

Unused to such rude behavior and not knowing how to respond, the princess dismounted and knelt by the stream, cupping her hands to bring water to her lips. She sighed “Ah, Heaven!” and the three drops of blood whispered to her, “Oh, Princess, if thy mother knew, her loving heart would break in two.” In humility, Lucrezia got back on Falada and rode some miles further, until heat and the scorching sun made her thirsty again. Her sweet nature had made her forget Charlotte’s earlier disrespect, and she kindly requested that the maid get her a drink of water from a splashing stream that flowed quickly by the road. Again the servant refused to obey.

“If you want a drink, get it yourself,” she snapped.

Lucrezia alighted from her horse, knelt by the rushing water and drank from her cupped hands. Weeping, she said, “Ah, Heaven!” and the three drops of blood replied, “Oh, Princess, if thy mother knew, her loving heart would break in two.” As she was bent over the stream drinking, she did not realize that the handkerchief with the blood drops fell out of her bosom and was carried away by the water. Charlotte, however, had seen it and smirked with glee, for she knew she now had power over the bride. She got down from her own horse and mounted Falada, ordering Lucrezia to ride the other horse. After they had proceeded some further distance, the maid commanded that the princess exchange clothes with her. After donning the royal apparel, Charlotte cruelly twisted Lucrezia’s arm behind her back and demanded that she swear to tell no one what had happened. Fearing for her very life, the princess swore an oath of silence.

At length, the servant, riding the finer horse and wearing the richer garments, and the true princess in humble attire and seated on a lesser mount, arrived at the bridegroom’s palace. Prince Cesare greeted Charlotte, lifting her from Falada, believing her to be his bride. He conducted her inside to rooms which had been prepared for her. Lucrezia was left standing alone in the courtyard, exhausted. The king, Rodrigo, looked out a window high above and noticed the beautiful girl whose delicate chin quivered as she tried not to weep. He went immediately to the false bride and inquired about the young woman who had accompanied her.

“She is just a good-for-nothing maidservant who is surly and disobedient. Give her some dirty work to do, that she doesn’t stand idle,” Charlotte replied haughtily.

“There is a boy named Alfonso, who tends the geese. She may help him.”

Charlotte, in her sweetest voice, begged a favor of Prince Cesare.

“That horse of mine is unruly. Send for the knacker and have him kill the beast, for I am afraid of him.”

What she really feared was that Falada would speak the truth to the king.

It was done; Falada was put to death and the vicious false bride had his head nailed up over the gateway which Lucrezia had to pass through each day, morning and evening, with the geese she tended. It made Charlotte laugh to know that the true princess would be forced to look upon this reminder of her fallen fortunes.

Early in the morning, when she and Alfonso drove their flock beneath the gateway, she would pause and look up at Falada’s head and weep.

“Falada, Falada, thou art dead,

And all the joy of my life is fled.”

 

The head would answer,

“Oh, Princess, if thy mother knew,

Her loving heart would break in two.”

 

Lucrezia and Alfonso walked far out into the countryside, driving their geese. When they came to a sunny meadow, she sat down and combed out her long, beautiful hair, which shone like pure gold. Alfonso, delighted at its brightness, wanted to pluck a few strands for himself, so she said,

 

“Blow, blow, thou gentle wind, I say,

Blow Alfonso’s hat away,

And make him chase it here and there,

Until I have braided all my hair,

And bound it up again.”

 

There came a strong breeze which blew Alfonso’s hat right off his head, forcing him to chase after it. By the time he returned, Lucrezia’s hair was bound up tightly, so he could not get any of it, and he was angry. He refused to speak to Lucrezia for the rest of the day, and they took the geese home in silence. The same thing happened the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. Alfonso went to the king and said, “I won’t tend the geese with that girl any longer! She vexes me all day long.” The king commanded Alfonso to explain what the girl did to make him so upset. Alfonso said, “In the morning when we pass beneath the gateway out of town, there is a sorry horse’s head hanging there and she says to it:”

 ‘Falada, Falada, thou art dead,

And all the joy of my life is fled.’

 

“And the head replies:

 ‘Oh, Princess, if thy mother knew,

Her loving heart would break in two.’”

 

Alfonso went on to tell what happened when he tried to steal some strands of hair and how the wind would blow his hat away.

 

The king commanded Alfonso to drive the geese out the next day as usual. When morning came, the king hid himself and observed how the young girl spoke to Falada’s head, and then he went out into the meadow where he concealed himself behind a thick shrub. With his own ears, he heard the goose girl summon the wind to blow Alfonso’s hat away, and with his own eyes, he saw the golden radiance of her unbound hair, which she combed and braided up while her companion chased his hat. The king returned to the palace and summoned Lucrezia to him when she came home from tending her flock, asking her why she did these things.

 

“Your Majesty,” she said. “I may not tell you, and I dare not tell anyone, for, to preserve my life, I have sworn an oath to remain silent about my woes.”

 

Although the king pressed her most kindly, she would not reveal to him the cause of her sorrows.

“My dear child, you must surely confide in someone. Go now to the cathedral and unburden your heart to the priest, who will be bound to keep your secrets.”

The king then dressed in priestly vestments and sat himself in the confessional. When he heard the goose girl enter, he opened the shutter between her compartment and his and whispered to her to entrust him with her deepest woes.

She began to weep.

“Here am I deserted by the whole world, and yet I am a King’s daughter, and my false maidservant, Charlotte, has by force brought me to such a pass that she has stolen my royal apparel, and taken my place with my bridegroom. She had my faithful horse Falada, put to death and I have to perform menial service as a goose-girl. If my mother did but know that, her heart would break.”

The king now understood why a humble servant had such a beautiful and delicate bearing while a supposed princess possessed coarse manners and a frowning countenance.

“My child,” he said to her in the guise of a priest, “Have faith. The Heavenly Father has not abandoned you. Very soon, all will be put to rights. Go now, and continue to remain silent. Watch and wait.”

Returning to the palace, King Rodrigo called Prince Cesare to him and revealed to him the truth about the woman he believe to be his betrothed. Having found her sharp-tongued and ill tempered, the prince was delighted that she was not to be his bride.

The king had Lucrezia brought to the palace where she was bathed and dressed in royal garments. Her golden hair was dressed and adorned with jewels, and she was presented to Prince Cesare, who rejoiced at her beauty and gentleness.

A great feast was prepared, to which all the courtiers and friends of the royal family were invited. Princess Lucrezia concealed herself behind a drapery to observe. At the head table, the king and Prince Cesare sat with the false bride. When they had eaten and drunk and were in a merry mood, the king asked Charlotte a riddle.

“What would a person deserve who behaved toward her mistress with shocking duplicity and cruelty and attempted to take her place?”

“She deserves no better fate than to be stripped entirely naked, and put in a barrel which is studded inside with pointed nails, and two white horses should be harnessed to it, which will drag her along through one street after another, till she is dead.”

“It is thou,” shouted Rodrigo, “and thou hast pronounced thine own sentence, and thus shall it be done unto thee.”

And when the sentence had been carried out, Cesare married his true bride, and together they reigned over their kingdom, living happily ever after.


End file.
